Chad Griggs hadn’t lost a fight in five years when he submitted to an
arm-triangle choke from heavyweight contender Travis Browne at UFC 145.

Now trying his hand at light heavyweight, the 34-year-old Arizona native is glad to have been humbled.

“It gives you that hunger to train hard again and put on a good show,” Griggs told MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio).

Griggs (11-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC), who went 3-0 for Strikeforce before being brought into the UFC fold, has a tall challenge ahead of him when he meets the 6-foot-6 Cyrille Diabate (18-8-1 MMA, 2-2 UFC) at UFC 154, which takes place Nov. 17 at Bell Centre in Montreal. The bout serves on the FX-televised preliminary card, which follows prelims on Facebook and precedes main-card fights on pay-per-view.

Training for the gangly Frenchman, Griggs admitted it was a struggle to find training partners of equal stature at his APEX MMA and Fight Legion gyms in Tucson. Even harder was finding someone with the same credentials.

“It’s definitely tough getting guys that are tall and lanky and have four world titles in standup,” Griggs said. “It was a little rough.”

Before he found mixed martial arts, Diabate was a kickboxer with a 32-8 record and once beat UFC middleweight contender Michael Bisping in a match.

Browne, too, held a height advantage over Griggs, who said the gameplan was the same for both fighters.

“I’m just going to have to get in there and turn it into a brawl,” he said. “It’s hard to throw a kick when you’re backing up.”

Now, it’s a matter of executing that plan. Griggs said he wasn’t at his best for Browne but felt the loss served a purpose in his career.

“It’s not something I’m ever going to like, and it’s not something I’m used to,” he said. “It’s been 2007 since I’ve had a loss. It definitely hurts your pride, but I think it’s good for the soul to be brought down to earth and realize you can be beat.”

Griggs has found repeated success storming opponents, logging all but one of his 11 victories inside the first round. In Strikeforce, he first won notoriety by stopping the rise of the highly hyped Bobby Lashley and Gian Villante, and pounded out Alistair Overeem’s brother, Valentijn Overeem, in short order.

Diabate’s UFC record is a mixed bag with wins over Luiz Cane and Steve Cantwell mixed with submission losses to Alexander Gustafsson and Anthony Perosh. Those who have given him space to strike haven’t fared well.

Griggs doesn’t plan on being that guy, and said despite less bulk that he’ll be able to muscle Diabate in the cage.

“He’s going to have to weigh 206 pounds, and I don’t have a doubt in my mind I’m going to be stronger than him,” Griggs said of his opponent. “Someone’s going to bleed.”

MMAjunkie.com Radio broadcasts Monday-Friday at noon ET (9 a.m. PT) live from Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino’s Race & Sports Book. The show is hosted by “Gorgeous” George Garcia, MMAjunkie.com lead staff reporter John Morgan and producer Brian “Goze” Garcia. For more information or to download past episodes, go to www.mmajunkie.com/radio.

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